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Thursday, 30 July 2015

July's bake of the month

I have fond memories of this tart. It was a family favourite but would only be made either at Christmas or Easter as it was deemed too special for any other occasion.

I’ve no idea where the recipe came from as it was scribbled on the back page of one of my mam’s old recipe books.

It’s similar to a cheesecake though as the title suggests it’s chilled instead of baked.

In the original recipe it had a ginger biscuit base. Mr Gertie isn’t a fan of ginger so I substitute the ginger biscuits for digestives. I’ve included both in the recipe so you can make it whichever way you prefer.

Unfortunately I don’t have any photos of it to show you so you’re going to have to trust me. However I promise you it is truly delicious and as the saying goes the proof of the pudding is in the eating....

Chilled lemon tart

Ingredients

3oz / 75g margarine or butter

8oz / 225g ginger or digestive biscuits

½ pint of double cream

Large tin of condensed milk (218g)

Grated rind and juice of 3 large lemons

Method

Using either a food processor or a large freezer bag and a rolling pin crush the biscuits until they resemble fine crumbs.

Melt the margarine/butter in a saucepan or microwave then stir in the crushed biscuits.

Press the biscuit mix into the base of an 8inch/20cm loose-bottomed tin. Chill for ½ hour. If you don’t have a loose-bottomed tin, line the tin with baking parchment, allowing an overlap over the side of the tin so you can pull the tart out when it’s set.

Whisk the condensed milk and cream with the juice and rind of the lemons until thick. If you have an electric whisk it will only take a couple of minutes.

Carefully spoon over the biscuit base then chill for at least four hours.

This tart recipe is so versatile:

Instead of one big tart simply spoon the biscuit mix into six or eight individual glass dishes then top with the lemon mix.

You can also make a chilled lime tart by replacing the lemons with four limes.

How about a chocolate lime tart? Mix 1 oz / 25g of cocoa powder to crushed digestive biscuits then decorate the top of the lime tart with grated chocolate.